


Try Harder Next Time

by CuriousThimble



Series: Fictober 2018 Microfics [13]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Sten Trains the Warden, Sword Training, Training
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-13
Updated: 2018-10-13
Packaged: 2019-08-01 17:04:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 273
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16288460
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CuriousThimble/pseuds/CuriousThimble
Summary: Sten has taken it upon himself to personally see that Hera and Alistair are prepared to defeat the archdemon- and with that, comes additional training. For Hera, it does not go well this time.





	Try Harder Next Time

**Author's Note:**

> Fictober day 13!
> 
> I really struggled with this prompt, because I kept seeing Sten say it in a disappointed tone but couldn't fill in the rest. I finally just sat down and went for it, seeing where it would go, and I'm overall pretty happy with it. Sten is one of my favorite characters, and his dry tone lends a lot of humor to many of the situations I write him in.

Hera falls to the ground, landing hard on her backside. Sten towers over her, resting his hands on the hilt of his sword as the dust settles. “You did not do well this time,” he says in a disappointed tone.

 

“Really? I hadn’t noticed,” she grumbles, leaning back on her hands. 

 

“I’m not sure this is the moment for sarcasm,” he tells her flatly. “You should be asking how to improve.”

 

With a frustrated sound, she sinks her hands into her hair. “All right, Sten, what should I do? You’re twice my size, have twice my strength, and you’re a lot faster than you look.”

 

“And you have a bigger sword,” Zevran adds unhelpfully, coming over from the campfire. “Dinner is ready if you are finished pounding our sweet Warden into the ground.”

 

Sten holds out a hand to help her up. “Well?” she asks as he lifts her effortlessly to her feet. “Any advice?”

 

“Try harder next time,” he says and walks away.

 

Covered in dirt, skin stinging from small cuts and scrapes, Hera stares after him with her mouth hanging open. “Try  _ harder _ ?” 

 

Zevran pats her shoulder gently, noticing a tear in her sleeve. “If you leave your mouth open like that, you will catch bugs,” he advises, slipping a finger into the tear. “Unless Alistair’s cooking is worse than last time, that would not be a filling meal.”

 

“He said-” she gapes, violet eyes wide.

  
“I know what he said,  _ bella, _ ” he chuckles. “Come. I will help you change your shirt and tend your wounds, and if you will give me a kiss, I will mend your shirt as well.”


End file.
